both the fovereign and the subjects in general would be enriched by the very lofs.

:

If the people only make the riches, the father of ten children is a greater benefactor to his country, than he who has added to it 10,000 acres of land and no people. It is certain Lewis has joined vaft tracts of land to his dominions but if Philarithmus fays true, that he is not now master of fo many fubjects as before; we may then account for his not being able to bring fuch mighty armies into the field, and for their being neither fo well fed, nor clothed, nor paid as formerly. The reafon is plain, Lewis muft needs have been impoverished not only by his loss of subjects, but by his acquifition of lands.

"T

N° 201

Saturday, October 20.

Religentem effe oportet, religiofum nefas.

Incerti Autoris apud Aul. Gell.

A man fhould be religious, not fuperftitious.

IT

Tis of the laft importance to feafon the paffions of a child with devotion, which feldom dies in a mind that has received an early tincture of it. Though it may feem extinguished for a while by the cares of the world, the heats of youth, or the allurements of vice, it generally breaks out and discovers itself again as foon as difcretion, confideration, age, or misfortunes have brought the man to himfelf. The fire may be covered and overlaid, but cannot be intirely quenched and smothered.

A ftate of temperance, fobriety, and juftice, without devotion, is a cold, lifelefs, infipid condition of virtue; and is rather to be ftiled philofophy than religion. Devotion opens the mind to great conceptions, and fills it with more fublime ideas than any that are to be met with in the most exalted science; and at the same time warms and agitates the foul more than fenfual pleasure.

It has been obferved by fome writers, that man is more diftinguished from the animal world by devotion than by reason, as feveral brute creatures discover in their actions fomething like a faint glimmering of reafon, though they betray in no fingle circumftance of their behaviour any thing that bears the leaft affinity to devotion. It is certain the propenfity of the mind to religious worship, the natural tendency of the foul to fly to fome fuperior Being for fuccour in dangers and diftreffes, the gratitude to an invifible fuperintendent which arifes in us upon receiving any extraordinary and unexpected good fortune, the acts of love and admiration with which the thoughts of men are fo wonderfully tranfported in meditating upon the divine perfections, and the univerfal concurrence of all the nations under heaven in the great article of adoration, plainly fhew_that devotion or religious worship must be the effect of tradition from fome first founder of mankind, or that it is conformable to the natural light of reafon, or that it proceeds from inftinct implanted in the foul itself. For my part, I look upon all thefe to be the concurrent caufes; but which ever of them fhall be affigned as the principle of divine worlhip, it manifeftly points to a Supreme Being as the first author of it.

I may. take fome other opportunity of confidering those particular forms and methods of devotion which are taught us by chriftianity; but fhall here obferve into what errors even this divine principle may fometimes lead us, when it is not moderated by that right reason which was given us as the guide of all our actions.

The two great errors into which a mistaken devotion may betray us, are enthusiasm and supersti

tion.

A

There is not a more melancholy object than a man who has his head turned with religious enthusiasm. perfon that is crazed, though with pride or malice, is afight very mortifying to human nature; but when the diftemper arifes from any indifcreet fervours of devotion, or too intenfe an application of the mind to its mistaken duties, it deferves our compaffion in a more particular manner. We may however learn this leffon from it, that fince devotion itself (which one would be

apt

apt to think could not be too warm, may diforder the mind, unless its heats are tempered with caution and prudence, we should be particularly careful to keep our reafon as cool as poffible, and to guard ourselves in all parts of life against the influence of paffion, imagination, and conftitution.

Devotion, when it does not lie under the check of reafon, is very apt to degenerate into enthusiasm. When the mind finds herself very much inflamed with her devotions, she is too much inclined to think they are not of her own kindling, but blown up by fomething divine within her. If the indulges this thought too far, and humours the growing paffion, fhe at laft flings herself into imaginary raptures and ecftafies; and when once the fancies herfelf. under the influence of a divine impulfe, it is no wonder if the flights human ordinances, and refufes to comply with any eftablished form of religion, as thinking herself directed by a much fuperior guide.

As enthusiasm is a kind of excefs in devotion, fuperftition is the excefs not only of devotion, but of religion. in general, according to an old heathen faying, quoted by Aulus Gellius, Religentem effe oportet, religiofum nefas ; a man should be religious, not fuperftitious; for as the author tells us, Nigidius obferved upon this paffage, that the Latin words which terminate in ofus generally imply vicious characters, and the having of any quality

to an excess.

An enthufiaft in religion is like an obftinate clown, a fuperftitious man like an infipid courtier. Enthufiafm has fomething in it of madness, fuperftition of folly. Moft of the fects that fall fhort of the church of England have in them ftrong tinctures of enthufiafm, as the Roman catholic religion is one huge overgrown body of childish and idle fuperftitions.

The Roman catholic church feems indeed irrecover-ably loft in this particular. If an abfurd drefs or beha-viour be introduced in the world, it will soon be found' out and difcarded: on the contrary, a habit or ceremony, though never fo ridiculous, which has taken sanctu-ary in the church, sticks in it for ever. A Gothic bishop, perhaps, thought it proper to repeat fuch a form in

F 5

fuch

fuch particular fhoes or flippers; another fancied it would be very decent if fuch a part of public devotions were performed with a mitre on his head, and a crofier in his hand. To this a brother Vandal, as wife as the others, adds an antic drefs, which he conceived would allude very aptly to fuch and fuch mysteries, until by degrees the whole office has degenerated into an empty

fhow.

Their fucceffors fee the vanity and inconvenience of these ceremonies; but instead of reforming, perhaps add others, which they think more fignificant, and which take poffeffion in the fame manner, and are never to be driven out after they have been once admitted. I have feen the pope officiate at St. Peter's, where, for two hours together, he was bufied in putting on or off his different accoutrements, according to the different parts he was to act in them.

Nothing is fo glorious in the eyes of mankind, and ornamental to human nature, fetting afide the infinite advantages which arife from it, as a ftrong, fteady, mafculine piety; but enthusiasm and fuperftition are the weakneffes of human reason, that expofe us to the fcorn and derifion of infidels, and fink us even below the beafts that perish.

Idolatry may be looked upon as another error arifing from mistaken devotion; but because reflexions on that fubject would be of no ufe to an English reader, I fhall not enlarge upon it.

L

Monday,

N° 202

Monday, October 22.

Sæpe decem vitiis inftructior odit & horret.

Hor. Ep. 18. lib. 1. ver. 25, Many, though faultier much themselves, pretend Their lefs offending neighbours faults to mend.

HE other day as I paffed along the street, I faw a

Tsturdy 'prentice-boy difputing with an hackney

coachman; and in an inftant, upon fome word of provocation, throw off his hat and periwig, clench his fift, and ftrike the fellow a flap on the face; at the fame time calling him rafcal, and telling him he was a gentleman's fon. The young gentleman was, it feems, bound to a blacksmith; and the debate arofe about payment for fome work done about a coach, near which they fought. His master, during the combat, was full of his boy's praifes; and as he called to him to play with his hand and foot, and throw in his head, he made all us who stood round him of his party, by declaring the boy had very good friends, and he could truft him with untold gold. As I am generally in the theory of mankind, I could not but make my reflexions upon the fudden popularity which was raised about the lad; and perhaps with my friend Tacitus, fell into obfervations upon it, which were too great for the occafion; or ascribed this general favour to caufes which had nothing to do towards it. But the young blacksmith's being a gentleman was, methought, what created him good-will from his prefent equality with the mob about him: add to this, that he was not fo much a gentleman, as not, at the fame time that he called himself fuch, to ufe as rough methods for his defence as his antagonist. The advan tage of his having good friends, as his mafter expreffed it, was not lazily urged; but he fhewed himself fuperior to the coachman in the perfonal qualities of courage and activity, to confirm that of his being well allied, before his birth was of any fervice to him.